Trace-holder



Patented Nov. 22, I898.

E. E..STEPHEN80N.

TRACE HOLDER.

(Application filed Oct. 13, 1898.)

(No Model.)

//v VENTOH ZZme r1216? WITNESSES henson,

ELMER E. STEPHENSON,

OF IVABASH, INDIANA.

TRACE-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,513, dated November 22, 1898.

Application filed October 1 3, 1 8 9 8.

To 00% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELMER E. STEPHENSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVabash, in the county of Wabash and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trace-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my present invention is to produce an inexpensive, efficient, and easilyapplied device by which harness-traces may be held onto the ends of the whiftletrees and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of my improved trace-holders as the same appears in use on the end of the whiffletree when holding the trace end in place thereon; Fig. 2, a side elevation of said trace-holder, actual size, as it appears on the end of a whiffietree,. its open position being indicated by means of dotted lines; Fig. 3, a central sectional view of the same on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4:, a transverse sectional view of the portion of the frame which carries the hook, with the hookholding ears in the position they occupy before the device is assembled; Fig. 5, a perspective view of the hook separately, and Fig. 6 a plan view of the base separately.

In said drawings the portions marked A represent the whiffletree, on which the traceholder is mounted; B, the base or frame portion of said whiffietree; O, the hook portion thereof, and D the spring.

The base or frame B of my improved trace holder is substantially in the form of an open framework consisting of two sides 1 and 2, two ends 3 and 4:, with a transverse portion 5 extending across the otherwise open central space, and two ears 6, having suitable perforations to receive the pivot of the hook and when closed together to form a bearing for said hook. This base is secured to the whiffletree by the screws 7 and 8, which, it will be observed, are the only fastenings required with this device, as the parts of the device themselves lock themselves together in assembling. The ears 6, when the base is first formed, are cast in the form shown by the full lines in Fig. 4 and in assembling arepressed toward each other until they occupy the position indicated by the dotted lines. in said Serial No. 693,4 1?- (No model.)

figure. On the under side of the end 3 of this base a cavity is formed to receive and hold the bent-up end of the spring D, and the transverse member or bar 5 serves as a fulcrum over which the said spring extends like a lever, with its other end bearing against a suitable flat surface on the hook O. The said spring D is formed from flat spring metal, is curved, as shown most plainly in Fig. 3, and, as will be readily understood, is held in place by the form of the parts B and 0 after said parts are assembled.

The hook O has a member 0, which passes down outside the end of the trace when the apparatus is in use and holds the same in position. At the rear end it has flattened sides, against which the spring D bears and whereby it is held to its various positions, as indicated by the full and the dotted lines in Fig. 2. At the rear end it has the pivot-ears or pivots c, which enter suitable openings provided therefor in the ears 6, by means of which when the ears are closed together the hook is held firmly in place without the use of any fastening de vices.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, in a trace-holder, of a base B, a hook O, and a spring D; one transverse member of said base having a cavity on its under side, and another transverse member which serves as a fulcrum for the spring and which is provided with ears to serve as bearings for the hook; said hook having flattened sides to bear against the spring, and a member to hold the trace in position, and projections or pivots to rest in the bearings in the ears; and said spring having one end formed to enter the recess in the frame and arranged to bearupon the fulcrum portion of said frame at an intermediate point, and the other end of which passes under the end of the hook between the ears of the frame, said ears being adapted to engage with and carry the pivot of the hook, whereby the several parts are held together by their own form when assembled, substantially as shown and described. V

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Wabash, Indiana, this 10th day of October, A. D. 1898.

ELMER E. STEPHENSON. [n s] Witnesses:

WILL H. ANDERSON, OHAs. CLARK. 

